Overseas Vietnamese need better incentives

Most of this money has been invested in domestic production, real estate and trade and has thus created a significant number of jobs.— Photo cafeland

HANOI (VNS) — Viet Nam has so far attracted 3,600 businesses owned by Vietnamese living overseas, with total registered capital of US$8.6 billion.

However, if improved policies were to be put in place, overseas Vietnamese capital flowing into the country would increase significantly, said Bui Dinh Dinh, Deputy Chairman and General Secretary of the Overseas Vietnamese Entrepreneurs' Association.

Overseas Vietnamese like to invest in their home country for a variety of reasons, such as stable politics, low production and labour costs, and abundant material sources, Dinh told the Viet Nam Economic News in an interview published yesterday.

Love for the country and a desire to contribute to developing Viet Nam and provide local jobs are also factors, he added.

Generally, overseas Vietnamese businesses spoke highly of the Vietnamese investment environment, he noted. However, those wishing to invest in the country still face barriers and, for this reason, some have expanded their investment to neighbouring countries, such as Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

In the short term, Dinh said, apart from major tasks including further reformation and simplification of the administrative procedures for investment projects, the government needs to work on specific policies and measures to encourage and support overseas Vietnamese investors.

These should include exempting and reducing land and corporate income taxes during the first three to five years of operation.

"[The government] also needs to improve economic transparency, legal equality and the quality of human resources, while at the same time stabilising its policies. If this happens, the overseas Vietnamese investment influx into the country will soar in the near future," he added.

Apart from direct investment, overseas Vietnamese have increased their remittances to the country, which amounted to almost $8.6 billion in 2011, almost $10 billion in 2012 and an estimated $10.6 billion in 2013. This places Viet Nam among the top 10 countries, in terms of overseas remittances.

Most of this money has been invested in domestic production, real estate and trade and has thus created a significant number of jobs. — VNS